That's All That Mattered
by Hopel3ssRomAntik
Summary: He smiled down at Lizbeth, whose tears had soaked his cloak ever so slightly. But he didn't care... he had her back, and that's all that mattered.


***Hullo, all! I didn't drop off the face of the earth, promise... I just haven't had any good ideas for stories lately. Well, I have, I just haven't put pen to paper... or in this case finger to keyboard.. meh, you know what I mean. Anywho, this was an idea I had running through my head. I have been on a Ranger's Apprentice kick lately, and thus produced ideas for stories of my own. I fell in love with Gilan immediately, and so I decided to write a story about him and my RA OC. Enjoy, comment, review... all that jazz. ***

Lizbeth shivered slightly in the night air. Pulling her cloak tighter around her, she ventured out. She had worked hard that night, and was sincerely glad to be heading home. Making her way down the road, she smiled, remembering the events of the evening. She remembered how her heart leapt inside her, as cliché as it might sound, upon seeing Gilan again. Not wanting to show it at first, she tried to keep it together in front of him. But after not seeing him since their childhood, she couldn't help herself. Hopefully, fate would bring them together again. _I would have liked to ask him how his apprenticeship went, and what he was up to now..._ Sighing, she secretly wished him well.

About half way up the road away from Redmont Castle, Lizbeth heard a voice cry out to her... or so she thought. Tugging her hood around her face, she turned in the direction from which the voice had come. Squinting to see, she gasped. _Gilan! _She stopped, and let him catch up to her. He smiled broadly, and then frowned ever so slightly.

"You didn't say goodbye...I'm hurt," Gilan quipped mockingly.

Lizbeth smiled apologetically. "You looked deep in conversation, and I didn't dare interrupt. Besides, I thought it best I was on my way home. If you remember, my mother gets quite agitated when I'm not home when she thinks I should be."

Gilan shook his head and laughed. "Oh, yeah. I remember all too well. Those nights we used to sneak out to watch the stars and..." He smiled sadly. "I miss those days, Lizbeth. I missed you."

"I missed you too, Gil." She brushed some hair away from her face, blushing lightly.

Trying to break the growing silence, Gilan spoke up. "So... care for an escort home?"

Lizbeth nodded. "I would love that. But I don't want to inconvenience you. I walk this road quite frequently by myself, so I should be alright."

Gilan gave her a flat look. "Lizbeth, for goodness sake, I haven't seen you in years...since we were what, 8 or 9 years old? If I can't make time for my best friend, what kind of gentleman would I be, hmm?" He added that last bit with a teasing tone to his voice. For emphasis, he gave her a gentle bop under the chin...what he always used to do to her when they were kids.

Lizbeth rubbed her chin where he bopped her. "Gil, I do believe you've gotten a bit stronger since I last saw you," she teased.

"I should hope so," he quipped. Smiling, he did a mock bow and gestured to the road in front of them. "Shall we, milady?"

Lizbeth laughed, and curtsied in mock formality. "Thank you, good sir."

"Well, this is home for me. Thank you for the walk and conversation, Gilan. Hopefully we will meet up again soon," Lizbeth said.

Gilan, amused at her sudden formality, laughed heartily. "Liz, since when did you get so eloquent in speech? It's just me!"

Lizbeth shook her head, and sighed. "I'm sorry, Gil. Blame my mother and all her etiquette lessons that she demanded I take."

"Ah, that makes _perfect_ sense... and I'm not trying to disrespect your mother, but it just sounds like her, ya know?"

"Granted," Lizbeth sighed resignedly. Turning to go inside her home, she smiled wistfully at Gilan. "G'night, Gil. Thanks again. And good luck with everything. I realized now that our duties take us both to Redmont often, but obviously our paths don't cross as much. Even so, as I said, hopefully we meet again soon."

"Who said our reunion had to be over just yet? The night is still young," Gilan proposed, with a mischievous grin.

Lizbeth smiled, and then frowned quickly, looking back at her front door. Dropping her voice to an almost whisper, she leaned in towards Gilan. "I'm not sure my mother would approve me being out too much later. Yes, I'm a grown woman, but she holds me on a tight leash sometimes. Namely when I am out by myself for awhile." Rolling her eyes, Lizbeth shrugged. "I guess she thinks I will fall into my old 'tom-boyish' ways, and will come back covered in twigs, dirt, and who knows what. She still doesn't think I can take care of myself fully."

Gilan laughed, and then nodded knowingly. "Yeah, we were pretty rambunctious as kids, weren't we? I mean, some of the trouble we _almost_ and often _did_ get ourselves into..." he shook his head. "But hey, we were kids. What else were supposed to do?"

"You're right. I sometimes wonder what changed me from then and now. I don't regret having the training I've had, but I miss being a kid."

Suddenly, Gilan grabbed Lizbeth's hand in his and dropped his voice to a whisper, following Lizbeth's earlier example. Giving her that bright smile of his, he leaned in towards her. "Care to take a trip down memory lane?"

Lizbeth blushed slightly at the nearness of his face to his. She noted to herself that Gilan smelled of pine, leather, and of course there was a hint of horse, seeing as how he was probably on his all the time. Realizing she didn't mind his close proximity, Lizbeth blushed even more. _Oh goodness..._

"Ah, sure... what did you have in mind, Gil?"

Gilan stepped back and smiled again. "I thought you might agree. Follow me."

Looking back once more at her house, Lizbeth sighed. She seemed to be doing a lot of that, mainly regarding her high-spirited friend here. _What was he up to? _

Gilan stopped his horse by a tree, and turned to Lizbeth. His breath caught in his chest, and he just stared at her. The moon and stars were out now, as the wind had died down to a slight breeze. Perfect accentuations of her features, he thought. _Aw, snap out of it, Gil. _

Before he realized he was staring, Lizbeth spoke up. "What's wrong, Gil?" she asked. Pushing back the hood of her cape, she brushed some of the hair out of her face... somewhat subconsciously. She found it a bit disconcerting to have him stare at her like that.

"Hmm? Oh, sorry... it was nothing," Gilan said quickly. Mentally slapping himself, he shook his head. Coming back to the present, he smiled broadly. "So, you know where we are right?" He spread his arms out, and turned slightly. They young duo were currently standing in a small grove of trees that was nestled next to a softly flowing brook. Being that it was mid fall, closer to winter; the trees still had the few red and orange colored leaves on their branches.

Gilan turned back to Lizbeth, who was looking around slowly. He grinned when he noticed the recognition dawn on her face. He saw her smile grow, and she nodded.

"Of course! This is where we first met, I believe. And..." she looked down at her feet, and then looked back at Gilan after a few seconds.

"Yes?" Gilan asked expectantly, with his head cocked slightly.

"And... this is where I told myself I loved you." Lizbeth giggled slightly at the look on Gilan's face.

"You-you did what?"

Rolling her eyes teasingly, she repeated her statement. Walking towards him slowly, she took his hand shyly. "This-" she said taking a deep breath, "this was where I told myself I knew I loved you, but I didn't want to say anything at the time. It's taken me this long to finally admit that to you...I'm sorry, Gil." She looked up at him.

Gilan pulled her into a hug. "You're such a ninny sometimes, you know that? What made you think you couldn't tell me, huh?"

Lizbeth pulled back and brushed some hair away from her face... also something she was doing a lot today, particularly around Gilan.

"Well..." she concluded slowly, "I wasn't sure how you felt about me. I mean, I could tell you might have felt _something_ for me, but I brushed it off as just a childish crush. And I didn't want the revelation to ruin our friendship..."

Bopping her chin gently, Gilan smirked. "You know nothing would ever come between our friendship. We were like this!" He crossed his fingers together, and held it up to her. "Besides...how would you ever know that I didn't feel the same way, if you never asked?"

Lizbeth shrugged. "I wasn't sure of anything back then, Gil. We were just kids. And you know... it plagued me for years that I never told you. When we went our separate ways, I dismissed the thought, honestly. I knew there was a good chance I wouldn't see you again, least ways not for a good, long while. But then-" she turned away from him, and took a few steps forward. Looking up at the night sky, and the brightly glowing stars through the trees, a tear began to form in her eye. Turning back to her best friend, she took a deep breath. "Then, when I ran into you tonight, quite _literally_..."

Gilan gave a chuckle and stepped towards Lizbeth as she continued. He stopped when she gently grabbed his arms, and looked into his eyes.

"Gil... I couldn't breathe. I thought, I would never see you again, and then there you were... standing before me. And I wondered what I did to deserve the chance to see you again. Maybe cliché, I know... but I cried myself to sleep many nights, dreaming of you and us together. Some good, some bad. It just made me miss you all the more desperately. Gil..." she buried her head into his chest and let the tears fall. Her next few words came out in a barely audible whisper. "Don't leave me again...please."

Gilan wrapped his arms around Lizbeth's now shaking body. "Don't worry, I'm not going anywhere. And you wanna know something?" He pulled her head up to look her in the eyes.

"Yes?" Lizbeth whispered.

"I felt the same way... every blasted _day_ I thought of you. Don't recall crying myself to sleep every night, but I did allow some unmanly sob sessions on occasion."

Lizbeth chuckled softly, and leaned into Gilan's embrace.

"Our paths may take us away from each other, I guarantee they will. But I will always think of you, and... I will always love you, Lizbeth. Nothing has ever changed that, and nothing ever will, got it? Not our mentors, not our peers... not even your mother." He smiled down at Lizbeth, whose tears had soaked his cloak ever so slightly. But he didn't care... he had her back, and that's all that mattered.

"Deal." Lizbeth giggled.

_That's all that mattered..._


End file.
